Codes and Conventions of Music Magazine Front Covers

After analysing several music magazine front covers, I have discovered they all follow the following Codes and Conventions:

• Masthead at the top of the page. The font chosen usually allows the masthead to become recognisable to the target audience, and is nearly always black in colour, large, and sometimes bold.
• 5-10 coverlines are usually used. These always link with the genre of music and content of the magazine.
• A colour scheme of around 3 colours is used. This is to stick to a publishing budget.
• Barcode, price and date is printed on the magazine to give the audience information.
• 5 cover stories are used to allow the reader what to expect inside, and try to interest them.
• Tagline, to make the magazine seem fun and exciting.
• A genre of music.
• A main image - usually of an artist or band. Artist is always looking at the camera to allow the readers to know that they have their full attention and they are "interested" in the magazine. The shot is always a mid close up/long shot.
• Mode of address - the way in which the image is shown. For example Kerrang make they're main image artists seem angry to allow and foreshadow what type of attitude you should have if purchasing this magazine.
• Other smaller images are used incase the reader does not like the band/artist used in the main image. It assures the reader what other artists to expect within the magazine.
• Buzz words such as "free" and "exclusive" to attract the readers attention.
• Each layout is different according to genre. Eg. Rock may have a busy layout, and Pop may have a girly layout.
  
  Additional Research
  . Indie/rock magazines tend to have shapes on their front cover, such as stars and circles. These can potentially contain buzz words such as "WIN" or "EXCLUSIVE". They are also usually written in capital letters.
  . There is a use of 1 or more banners on the front cover, to make the front cover appear busy.
  . Most text on the front cover is presented in capital letters to create a theme.
  . Images for cover stories can be presented on an angle.